8:35 PM -- Samford takes a timeout after a King three-pointer with 1:11 to play cuts the lead to 63-59. The Mountaineers may have to make one more big basket to put this game on ice.
8:30 PM -- The final media timeout of the game with 3:42 to play and ASU has a 63-56 lead.
8:26 PM -- ASU holds a 61-56 lead with 4:52 to play in the game. Sims has 16 points, with 19 from Carter as the only Mountaineers in double-figures. King's 18 off the bench leads the Bulldogs, with 15 points from Josh Bedwell. Still anyone's game at the Holmes Center as the Mountaineers look to pick up win No. 11.
8:20 PM -- The Mountaineers lead, but only by a pair at 55-53 with 7:19 to play in the game. Omar Carter has played big for the Apps in this one with 17 points, while Donald Sims has 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Samford has taken a whopping 25 three-point shots in the game, more than double ASU's 12 attempts. The Bulldogs have made 12 of those three-pointers to stay in the game.
8:10 PM -- 11:46 remains in the contest and the Mountaineer lead has been trimmed to two points at 48-46. Andy King of Samford is a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, and 5-for-5 from three point range, with 18 points total. ASU is still paced by 15 from Carter and 14 points by Sims.
8:05 PM -- The Mountaineers star the second half strong, building a 10-point lead, but the Bulldogs have cut the advantage to 46-40 with 14:21 to play in the game. Sims has 14 points for the game, but Carter leads the Apps with 15 points total on 7 of 13 shooting. The Mountaineers are shooting 51 percent for the game, while Samford is 15 of 31 for a 48.4 percent clip.
7:42 PM -- At the half, ASU uses an 14-4 run to take a 34-30 lead into halftime. A Sims three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer moves ASU from down six to up by four at the half. Carter has 13 and Sims has 10 points at intermission to lead the Mountaineers. Josh Bedwell leads the Bulldogs and all scorers with 16 points at intermission.
We'll have second half action in a few minutes!
7:38 PM -- Samford takes a quick timeout at the 2:58 mark as ASU reeled off two straight baskets to cut the lead to 26-24.
7:35 PM -- 3:53 remains in the first half and the Bulldogs lead 26-20. Samford has already attempted a dozen three-point shots in the half, while ASU has put up eight from downtown.
Josh Bedwell has 13 to lead the Bulldogs, but was shaken up just prior to the media timeout. Carter has 11 to lead the Mountaineers.
7:27 PM -- Samford leads 24-18 at the second media timeout. Short time between the first two stoppages but ASU continues to work the ball inside. About 20 seconds pass and there is yet another media timeout. 6:37 remains in the first half and the Mountaineers are still down by the six-point margin.
7:20 PM -- 8:59 is left in the first half and Samford leads 22-16. Andy King has 9 points to lead the Bulldogs and Josh Bedwell has 11.
ASU is led by nine points from Omar Carter, with three from Donald Sims.
7:15 PM -- Samford is shooting the three-pointer as is their reputation, scoring each of their first 9 points by way of the triple. With 10:06 to play in the first half, the first stoppage of the game comes with an ASU timeout. In essence the teams have played almost ten straight minutes on the clock without a whistle...quite unusual. Two media timeouts are forthcoming at some point. Samford leads 20-14.
7:00 PM -- Getting ready for tipoff here on "Celebrate Watauga" Night at the Holmes Center. Watauga County residents were allowed to purchase tickets at a discounted rate for this evening's game, and from the appearance of the crowd, it looks like several folks took advantage of the offer.
We're at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State University for this evening's Southern Conference contest between the Samford Bulldogs (12-12) and the ASU Mountaineers (10-13)
The Mountaineers enter tonight's game on a two-game winning streak, having defeated UNC-Greensboro and Elon in back-to-back road games last week.
ASU seeks a season sweep over the Bulldogs after defeating them 78-69 in Alabama back on December 4th. Omar Carter paced the Mountaineers with two double-doubles on the week and averaged 21.5 points and 11 rebounds in the wins. The junior ranks second on the team in scoring and rebounding for the season.
Donald Sims scored the 2,000th point of his career at Elon and is one of fewer than 500 players to reach the milestone in NCAA Division I history.
Samford travels to the High Country after a 56-50 win at Georgia Southern last Saturday. The Bulldogs are 2-4 away from home in league play, with the other win coming at UNCG in early January.
Jeffery Merritt leads the squad with 10.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. On the offensive end, more than half of the Bulldogs field goal attempts have come from downtown on the season (53 percent) where the squad makes 35.5 percent of its attempts. Josh Davis leads Samford from beyond the arc with 44 three-pointers on the season.
SU is holding opponents to a 41.3 field goal percentage, the lowest in the SoCon this year.
We'll be bringing updates throughout the contest here at the Blog, with tipoff at 7 p.m. Thanks for reading!
